Childhood Lost

Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).

Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.

Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism

(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)

"What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless."

John Stone,

UK media editor, Age of Autism

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"The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country."

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

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(Canada) Alberta bans school seclusion rooms; exemptions available

Mar 1, 2019, Edmonton Journal: Alberta school seclusion-room ban to take effect in fall, education minister—All school boards across the province must submit a list of schools with a seclusion room and ensure they are decommissioned by August 30. https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/education-minister-bans-seclusion-rooms-in-alberta-schoolsSeclusion rooms will be banned in schools across the province before the start of the next school year.
Education Minister David Eggen signed a ministerial order Friday morning forbidding schools from using isolation rooms, but providing the opportunity for school districts to apply for an exemption. …
But, school districts will have the ability to apply for exemptions based on individual students if they can demonstrate support from the student’s parents.
“What we need to do is have a more systematic way to approach this,” Eggen said. “Building individual personal plans fit for students, fit for parents and for schools as well.” …
All school districts across the province must submit a list of schools with a seclusion room and ensure they are decommissioned by Aug. 30. The ministry will conduct on-site inspections to ensure compliance. There will also be training opportunities for teachers and support staff, Eggen said. …
“We know parents can be coerced into agreeing to these practices in order to keep their child in school and this cannot be allowed to continue, not should requesting seclusion be reason in and of itself for an exemption,” Bowman said in a statement.
A 2018 Inclusion Alberta survey with more than 400 responses from families whose children were secluded or restrained in schools found 80 per cent of the children were between the ages of five and 10 and more than half were on the autism spectrum. …